About Me

Links

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Story Writing Workshop

They came from Rice Lake and West Bend, from Prairie du Sac and Green Bay, from Westby and Bailey’s Harbor, from Baraboo and McFarland, from Sturgeon Bay and Niles, Illinois. They traveled to The Clearing in Door County, to a place where nature was showing off its autumn finery—crimson red maples, strikingly yellow birches, and a sky bluer than the waters of Green Bay. Seventeen people.

They attended a Saturday workshop to write their stories, to scribble down their memories to be shared with loved ones, with children and grandchildren, with spouses, siblings and cousins, with those interested in another view of history, a personal view.

They wrote their stories, as many as one could in the few available hours, and they shared them with each other. At times laughter filled the room. And then quiet, as sad stories were shared, heart wrenching stories of an earlier day, but still vivid in memories.

Their common bond: the importance of the story. A way to share what being human means. A way to have fun, a way to pass on history, a way to tie generations together. A way to remember that through story we remember who we are.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Each of us has a responsibility to share a bit of our life story with those who follow.

An intriguing and entertaining tale, October 15, 2009 By: Midwest Book Review

When a family stays in one place for a century, that place becomes a member of the family. "Blue Shadows Farm" is a novel taking place over a century as three generations of Starkweathers care for a farm and face their own challenges. A small area in Wisconsin, Silas comes to found the farm in the mid nineteenth century. His son Abe finds himself bootlegging to keep the bills paid during prohibition, and Abe's daughter is challenged with its sale. Bouncing between the perspectives of the three protagonists, "Blue Shadows Farm" paints a vivid picture of the history of rural America, making for one intriguing and entertaining tale.